Paint brushes and the like



March 19, 1957 F. BURY 2,785,427

PAINT BRUSHES AND THE LIKE Filed Feb. 15, 1952 2 Sheet -Sheet 1 3nuentor Irvin Fl EIUT'H '(Ittorneg j March 19,1957 1. F. BURY PAINT BRUSHES AND THE LIKE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 f Filed Fe b. 15, 1952 FIG-.11.

M m E FA n% 1 v r lb m f F mi 74 United States Patent PAINT BRUSHESAND THE LIKE Irvin F. Bury, Washington, D. C.

Application February 15,1952, Serial No. 271,693

4 Claims. (Cl. 15-202) This invention relates to improvements in brushes of the character particularly well adapted for use inpainting and the like, in which the brush has a plurality of detachable bristle carrying sections.

It 'has been proposed in the past to provide such brushes with numerous objects in view, such as to facilitate cleansing, to form various size brushes according to the number of sections used or according to the bristle length and to utilize the same handle means with different assemblies of sections. In so doing many of these proposed brushes are cumbersome and/or expensive to manufacture, or are so made that entirely satisfactory painting and the like cannot be accomplished, because there are dead spaces open to the girth of the brushing, portion, where there are no bristles. This may cause streaks to appear when painting, or cause dripping of paint from the brush when painting from beneath the surface, such as ceilings. The streaks are particularly noticeable when painting with flat brushes and stroking the brush with the narrow ends of the bristle section leading in the path of travel.

The principal objects of the present invention are to provide brushes which may be manufactured at a low cost, which are compact and in general outward appear ance differ little from theordinary brushes now on the market, and are of such nature that there are no dead spaces open to the girth of the girth of the brushing por-' tion through which paint or other liquid may flow as when applying such to undersur'faces, such as ceilings, and upright surfaces, such as walls.

Another object is to provide detachable bristle carrying sections for brushes which may be readily and economically cleansed, by submerging same in a liquid solvent of shallow depth and permitting ready access to the exposed surfaces of the spreader means of the general character used in many brushes to economize in the use of bristles and render the brush more pliable in action during the forward and backward strokes of the brush, while painting, brushing, or the like.

A further object is to provide a simple and efficient means for retaining the detach-able bristle carrying sections in the handle socket.

Other objects and advantages will appear in the following detailed description of several types of brushes made according to the present invention,'taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification and in which drawings:

Fig. l is an elevational view of a brush, generally termed a flat brush, embodying my invention, portions being shown broken away and shown in vertical section to disclose preferred details.

Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional view onthe line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view on'the line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is an elevational view of one of'the'bristle carrying sect-ions.

Fig. 5 is a horizontal sectional view on the lineS-S of Fig. 3.

Fig. 10 is an elevational view of one of the bristle carrying sections suitable for use in the type of brush shown in Fig. 9.

Fig. 11 is an enlargedsectional view on the line 1111 of Fig. 9.

Figs. 12 and Bare horizontal sectional views'on the lines 12-12 and 13-43 of Figs. 9 and 11, respectively.

In the drawings I disclose brushes, each comprising a handle 14, including a socket member 15, such as a ferrule, a brush section 16, which may be said to be of laminated formation, or divided vertically, comprising a plurality of bristle carrying units 17, and means 18 detao'hably securing the brush section 16 in the socket member 15.

The handle 14 may be ofany suitable formation or construction but in the examples shown, comprises a hand engaging portion 26, and a wide spread portion 21, which may be made of wood, and the ferrule 15, secured to the portion 21 as by long shank rivets 22, or otherwise as is customary in brush manufacture, the ferrule extending beyond the bottom 23 of portion 2110 provide a socket or cavity 24. For a purpose to be subsequently set forth, the ferrule is provided with elongated, horizontal slots 26 across its ends, preferably close to the bottom margin of the ferrule, and horizontal, spaced apart, parallel beads 27, between which the slots 26 open. Provision of beads, outstruck from the metal of the ferrule is common in the art, to give stiffness to the ferrule, but in the present in stance, the beads perform an additional function, to cooperate with the means 18 as hereinafter noted.

The brush section 16 as shown in Figs. l-5 is made up of two separable bristle carrying units 17, each comprising a knot of bristles 30, and an elongated, rigid head 31 in which the butt ends 32 of the bristles are anchored, the flag ends 33 of the bristles extending substantially normal to the underside of the head. It is preferred to also provide an elongated spreader 35 and which may be molded integral with the head, made of a set plastic material. This spreader is preferably located offset with respect to the longitudinal axis of the underside of the head, so that its one side 36 is inset an appreciable distance from the sides 37 and 33 of the head and with its ends 40 short of the ends 41 of the head. It is also preferred to have the other side 42 of the spreader, flush with the side 38 of the head, as shown iu'Figs. 3 and 4. The side 36 may be curved gently from the bottom of the head 31 toward the bottom of the spreader as shown in Fig. 3, so that, in use, during strokes of the brush, while painting, bristles contacting the curved side may be arched thereabout instead of being abruptly bent as might be the case if the spreader were rectangular in cross section.

No matter whether the bristle carrying unit 17 does or does not include a spreader, the knot of bristles, as shown more particularly in Fig. 5, is arranged to be of substantially C-shaped cross section at its ,portion adjacent the underside 34 of the head, with the bristles at the end of the knob extending to the very plane of the side 38 of the head 31 as is obvious from an inspection of Figs. 4 andS. Thus, by this C-shaped formation, a cavity 44 is presented'beneath the underside of the head open to a side of the unit 17. When the bristle carrying unit does have a spreader, the flag ends of the bristles are disposed along the side 36 and the ends 40 of the spreader.

The head 31 is molded so that the bristles also extend to the plane of its side 37, and the head is shaped for side-by-side engagement with the head 31 of its companion bristle carrying unit 17 and for telescopic engagement in the socket 24 and to engage the bottom 23 of the handle portion 21 as shown in Fig. 1. For cooperation with the slots 26, and the means 8 for detachably securing the brush section 16 in the socket member 15, the head of each unit 17 is provided with laterally opening recesses 46 shown in Figs. 1 and 4, there being a companion slot 26 for. each recess 46 which are in alignment when the brush sectionabuts the bottom 23 of handle portion 21. While any suitable means may be provided to keep the brush section in place I prefer to equip the brush with a U-shaped clip 47, of resilient wire for each companion slot and recess, the bight portion of which fits snugly through the slot and into the recess, and the arms 49 of the clip embracing the ferrule 15, between the beads 27 as shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3. The beads 27 prevent swinging movement of the clips 47 about their bight portions 48 to such position where they would no longer have embracing relationship with the socket memher or ferrule 15. If desired, the free end portions of the arms 49 may be outturned as at 56, to facilitate placing of the clips.

With the brush section 16 properly held in the socket member 15, the cavities 44 will confront one another, and the bristles at the ends of the two cavities will engage one another, so that there will be no dead spaces where there are no bristles encompassing the brush section 16 beneath the heads 31 of the units 17.

The modification shown in Fig. 6, and incidently shown in Fig. 7, is similar to that previously described in detail with the exception that bristle carrying units 52 each comprise the knot of bristles 36 arranged as shown in Figs. 3 and 5, carried by a rigid head 54 of substantially uniform depth and with a spreader 55 initially separate from the head but adhering thereto due to the characteristics of the cementitious material of which the head is formed or secured thereto by an adhesive not shown in the drawing. The spreader 55 may be of any suitable material, such as wood, or plastic material.

In Fig. 7 is shown the manner in which the lamina-like bristle carrying units may be placed flat upon the bottom 56 of a pan 57 and submerged in a shallow body of liquid solvent 58 and access had to the cavities 4d, bounded in part by the spreaders 35 for thorough cleansing of the units. If desired the heads 31 or 54 may be provided with transverse holes 69 for suspending them; on a cord or other support, not shown in the drawings, for drainage of solvent from the units and while they are drying.

The modification shown in Figs. 913, where a wall type brush is illustrated, is similar with respect to the handle and means for retaining a brush section 6i in the socket member 15. However in this modification the brush section is made up of more than two bristle carrying units; in the example shown three bristle carrying units designated 62, 63 and 64. The outer units 62 and 64 are substantially like the units 17, but the central unit 63 instead of having the knot of bristles 66 of the C- shaped cross section at the zone previously described, is of I-shaped cross section, thus providing two cavities 67 beneath the underside of its head 68 of rigid material, these cavities being each open to a side of the brush. If the units 62 and 64 carry spreaders 35, then the unit 63 is provided with two spreaders 69 for cooperation with the spreaders 35, as shown in Fig. 11. In this instance also, the bristles at the ends of the knot 66 extend, as shown at 70 to the very planes of the sides of the head 68,. so that when the three units are in assembled relationship the bristles at the ends of the units 62. and 64 will engage the bristles at the sides of unit 63 in a manner that Cit arenas? there will be no dead spaces where there are no bristles encompassing the brush section 61 beneath the heads 31 and 68.

The head 68 is provided with recesses 72 to cooperatively align with the recesses 46, the slots 26 in the ferrule i5 and the bight portions 48 of the clips 47 to detachably retain the brush section 61 in socket of ferrule 15 in a manner previously described.

In the manufacture of so-called flat brushes it is preferred to make the companion bristle carrying units with their heads of uniform thickness to facilitate compact storage and shipment thereof and so that all may be uniformally submerged in a shallow solvent for cleansing. Manufacturers, dealers and ultimate users may stock several sets of companion brush-carrying units, the sets differing in length of the flag-ends of bristles and/ or other characteristics of the bristles, such as of horsehair, camel hair, ox hair etc. all susceptible of use with a given size socket member 15.

The spreaders no matter whether used in brush sections made up of two or more than two bristle carrying units serves many purposes. The spreader, if made initially separate from the head, may aid in holding the knot of bristles tight together at a zone near the butt ends of the bristles while the cementitious materials making up the head is molded or forced around the butt-ends of the bristles and until such ceinentitious material has set. The spreaders make possible the use of a smaller number of bristles for a given size brush as compared with a brush of the same size, but in which the ferrule surrounds a solid mass of butt-ends. Hence a brush with spreaders may be sold at a lower price than those without it, or better bristles may be used than in the solid mass buttend type to sell for the same price. The use of the spreader results in a cavity in the knot of bristles below the head, which cavity is normally concealed by the flagends of the bristles, but such cavity renders the bristles more pliable in action, during the forward and backward strokes of the brush, while painting, brushing, or the like. The cavity may also serve as a reservoir for paint or the like accumulating therein as the bristles are partly submerged in the paint, and drawn upon during the painting procedure. While it is common practice to provide spreaders in paint brushes, they are not divided longitudinally and are a source of trouble in that they cannot readily be reached for cleaning and it is around the spreader that much paint and other liquid coating material accumulates and hardens. Difficulties are also experienced in getting the solvent to the spreader in ordinary brushes, but this difficulty is obviated by the present invention as is obvious from a consideration of Fig. '7.

While the invention is herein disclosed as embodied in the so-called fiat brushes most used by painters and decorators, it is applicable within limits to other types of brushes, such as those of oval and round types especially where it is desirable to have one or more cavities beneath the brush heads and concealed within the brush section by the continuous disposition of bristles with respect to the girth of the coat applying end of the brush.

I claim:

1. In a brush of the character described, the combination of a socket member; a brush section comprising two separable companion bristle carrying units in side-by-side contacting relationship, each of said units comprising a knot of bristles and a rigid head in which the butt ends of the bristles are anchored, the knot of bristles of each unit being substantially C-shaped in cross section at its portion next to the underside of is head and extending to the very plane of the side of the head contacting the head of the companion unit, so as to present a cavity beneath its rigid head open to a side of the unit, and said units arranged in side-by-side contacting relationship with the said cavities thereof confronting one another and with the bristles at the ends of the two cavities engaging one another next to the undersides of said heads, so

as to leave no space unfilled with bristles encompassing the brush section directly beneath said heads of the units; and means detachably securing said brush section in said socket with the units thereof in said side-by-side contacting relationship.

2. In a brush of the character described, the combination of a socket member; a brush section comprising three separable bristle carrying units in face to face contacting relationship, each unit comprising a knot of bristles and a rigid head in which the butt ends of the bristles are anchored, the knot of bristles of it 2 central unit being substantially I-shaped in cross section at its portion directly beneath the underside of its head, the knots of bristles of the outer units being each substantially C-shaped in cross section directly beneath the underside of its head, said outer units arranged so that bristles at the ends of each engage bristles at the sides of the end portions of the central unit directly beneath the bottoms of their respective heads, in a manner that there are no dead spaces where there are no bristles encompassing the brush section beneath the heads of the units; and means detachably securing said brush section in said socket member.

3. In a brush of the character described, the combination of a ferrule providing a socket, said ferrule provided with circumferentially extending slots open to said socket, and spaced apart circumferentially extending heads at its exterior at each side of said slots; a brush head telescopically extending into said socket, said head provided with laterally opening companion recesses open to said slots; and retainers of U-shaped formation for each of said companion slots and recesses, each retainer disposed with its bight portion extending into its respective slot and recess and its arms embracing the ferrule between said beads.

4. In a brush, the combination of a socket member;

a brush section comprising two like companion separable units detachably carried by said socket member, each of said units comprising an elongated head, having an underside, an outer side, an inner side, and opposite ends, an elongated spreader rigid with said head and extending longitudinally of the underside thereof, with the ends of the spreader spaced short of the ends of the head and one side of the spreader spaced inwardly of the plane of one of the outer side of the head, and a knot of bristles having their butt-ends anchored in said head, along said last mentioned side of the spreader and about both ends of the spreader to the very plane of the inner side of the head, and their flag-ends extending substantially normal to the underside of the head, along the ends and said last mentioned side of the spreader, so as to present a cavity in the knot of bristles beneath the spreader and open to a side of the unit; and means detachably retaining said brush section in the socket member with the inner sides of the heads of the brush section units in engagement with each other, and with the bristles at the ends of the knots of bristles of the brush section units engaging one another directly beneath the heads thereof so as to leave no space unfilled with bristles about the Spreaders of the companion brush section units.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 334,336 Bowditch Jan. 12, 1886 782,580 Reese Feb. 14, 1904 1,381,879 Juska June 14, 1921 1,649,490 Schalle Nov. 15, 1927 2,407,457 Sokoloif Sept. 10, 1946 

